In the Edmonton Oilers most recent five games, Connor Ingram (four games, .921 save percentage at five-on-five) and Tristan Jarry (one game, .923 save percentage five-on-five) have delivered quality goaltending. The team is playing an aggressive, speed game that contests every puck, and the result is fewer high-danger chances (24 in five games) and more high danger saves (19). For the season, Ingram’s expected goals against and actual GA in all game states lines up flush. It’s not perfect, but it’s going in a good direction. Please read this.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN MARCH
- At home to: OTT, CAR (Expected 1-1-0) 1-1-0
- On the road to: VEG, COL, DAL, STL (Expected 2-2-0) 2-1-1
- At home to: NAS, SJS, FLA, TBAY (Expected 2-1-1) 2-2-0
- On the road to: UTA, VEG (Expected 1-1-0) 2-0-0
- At home to: ANA, SEA (Expected 1-1-0) 2-0-0
- Expected Record: 7-6-1, 15 points in 14 games
- Actual Record: 9-4-1
- Season Record: 38-28-9, 85 points in 75 games
The Oilers are two points behind the Anaheim Ducks, who have one game in hand. Edmonton is three points up on Vegas, both teams have played 75 games. The Pacific Division title is in play, but if the Californians hold serve there isn’t much the Oilers can do about it.
March was an exceptional month for the team. The 19 standings points was good enough for second (one point behind Anaheim, seven points beyond Vegas) in the division. The overall save perentage (.880) was No. 22, the five-on-five save perentage (.891) ranked No. 25 overall. Those final five games helped the cause in a big way. The five-on-five percentage in those games (.922) ranked No. 7 across the league.
- Podkolzin-McDavid-Savoie 12:25, 5-7 shots, 39X, 2-1 HDSC
- Hyman-Nuge-Roslovic 11:16, 2-3 shots, 53X
- Henrique-Dickinson-Kapanen 9:51, 4-3 shots, 1-0 goals, 61X, 3-0 HDSC
- Jones-Samanski-Lazar 8:26, 5-4 shots, 1-0 goals, 66X, 4-1 HDSC
Well, well, well. This team finally finds a way to dominate the soft parade. Same trailer, different park. So much utility on that fourth line, each member has a story to tell. Max Jones hasn’t played much since coming over, but this time of year players with his style can be important if they can help outscore. Kasperi Kapanen’s goal included all the things I like about this team currently. He anticipated, made a great play, used his speed to gain a good scoring position and shot the damne puck on net. Music!
- Nurse-Murphy 17:34, 7-5 shots, 1-0 goals, 48X, 3-0 HDSC
- Ekholm-Bouchard 16:04, 7-9 shots, 45X, 1-1 HDSC
- Walman-Emberson 15:04, 5-7 shots, 1-0 goals, 51X, 5-1 HDSC
- Connor Ingram 27 of 27
Ingram was quality, and I like the defensive group, too. Darnell Nurse and Connor Murphy once again played the most, and this time were rewarded with a goal. I think the Oilers plan to run this duo heavy in the playoffs, but they’ll need to outscore. Can they? The coaching staff has finally settled the depth chart and deployment, and we’ll see if the second-pairing suppression gets married to something close to an offensive element.
The first two goals for Edmonton were the kind of markers a team scores in the playoffs. Frantic moments, puck deflects, dangerous pass at the blueline intercepted, and on it goes. Hockey, even at the NHL level, is a game of mistakes and broken plays made beautiful. If this Oilers team adds those things to the electric mintes of the Glimmer Twins, this could be a memorable spring.
On the Lowdown today, we’ll take stock of the roster with Kevin McCurdy at 1 today. We’ll also chat abot a possible Oilers-VGK matchup and the race to find goaltending that works, and we’ll chat Jays and more. Noon to 2pm, Sports 1440 and You Tube.
Can Darnell Nurse and Connor Murphy be a shutdown tandem for Edmonton Oilers?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7159418/2026/04/01/edmonton-oilers-darnell-nurse-connor-murphy-stats/
Ty Emberson is a very good defensive d-man and, while Walman can be all over in that regard, I do hope the Coffey fades the 2nd pair minutes a bit and give a bit more to the 3rd pairing.
Nurse is playing his best hockey of the year over the last 4-5 games (last night very good) and that pairing is doing well in VERY tough minutes – I’m not sure THIS level is sustainable but so far so good.
I think it’s imperitive that this level can still improve. The only problem I see is the depth behind the six starting D. Here’s hoping that Stastney & Regula can hold pace if required.
I cant believe how rarely I notice emberson. Legitimately I often dont realise he is on the ice just doing his job…
Which is amazing… he is just steady, calm, and gets the job done.
Love those guys on the back end. They have way more impact than they get credit for and often remain quite cheep. Until youre 32 and have years of being Vlasic they rarely seem to price themselves out.
Do NOT trade him!
They do have more impact than many realize. 3 of the last 4 Cup winners did not have high flying D corps, even if Tampa has Hedman
What you said.
It’s sustainable, with the caveat that Edmonton sticks to the structured play. Nurse always looks like a world beater when things are calm. Same as Stu did. No coincidence Ingram got the shutout.
Edmonton are playing a systemic repeatable game instead of a chance generation contest. I hope Drai is taking notes.
They are able to play that type of game when the opponent doesn’t push them very hard. When they do push we will see if they can still function. There have been several teams that have been a real challenge, even if the Oilers managed to win
I think getting the first goal and not giving one up within 90 seconds of scoring has helped keep them within the game plan.
It’s too bad he’s not locked up for more than next year on his 1.3 annual salary. He’s still learning the game and is getting better with more time in the trenches. Barring injury he’s going to quietly be a sneaky good journeyman D-man for the next 10 years.
Nashville’s schedule is silly:
On the road against LA, then hop over to SJ, LA again 5 days after they got to LA, ANA, fly over to Utah before they go home to finish against the Wild, the Sharks and ending with the Ducks.
If they beat their Wildcard competitors of SJ and LA in those 5 games, they get in.
Is there a twitter like mute button on this site? That one guy is just unbearable.
I was wondering the same thing not long ago if it was possible to block someone’s posts im not technologically inclined so I just bite my tongue hoping one day I can figure it out if possible 😜 😜
Summarizing!
Nicholl celebrated his new ELC with a brace of apples as London staved off elimination to make it a 3-1 series. He was also named 3rd star.
Lewandowski did not garner soup in a Game 4 loss. Series is knotted at 2.
Lafreniere scored the Blazers’ only two goals and went 11-for-14 (78.6%) on the dot. He was named 2nd star. However, the Blazers lost and their season ends in a sweep. Lafreniere is now off to Western Michigan in the fall.
The number of remaining NAmateurs is now four.
Prospecting takes a break until Freya’s Day.
Howard gets his 21st on a one-timer on a 6 on 4 PP – seemed to put it through he goalie.
Condors losing by a bunch.
They pulled the goalie on a PP with 13 minutes left down by 3, instantly got scored on, did it again and scored that goal.
Celebrini brilliant with 2G 2A to lead the Sharks 4-3 over the Ducks and move into a playoff position.
The Hart Trophy belongs in San Jose.
Hart belongs to Celebrini? He’s very good, but the Hart is a bit of a stretch, no? Plus I thought the bar was set years past that non playoff teams can’t get the Hart. Or perhaps that only applies to McD./Oilers.
I think they are still one pt behind LA.
The Big Boy Anaheim Money Pucks lose to the Macklin Celebrinis
Sharks scored with 1:30 left to tie it and 30 seconds left to win it.
April Fools Anaheim!
SJ scores 2 goals 1 minute and 8 seconds at 18:21 and 19:29 of the 3rd period to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 lead with only 31 second left now. SJ needed this game to stay in the Wildcard but it sure help Edmonton too!
Celebrini with 2 goals and 2 assists to contribute on all 4 Sharks goals. Clutch win!
LA wins in OT to slide into the 2nd wildcard. That means it’s destiny.
The Oilers will win the division and face the Kings for the 5th straight time in the first round.
Nah
LA has to move up to the first wild card spot, otherwise they play the Avs. There’s still enough games that this is feasible. Destiny.
Brett Kulak -3 tonight.
Not to be outdone, good guy Nazem Kadri sinks several birdie putts to go -5 for the evening.
Sharks pull off a regulation win against Anaheim!
If you are interested in hearing from a smart coach, Here’s Bednar:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Z29Lp355UJr7BRdhrFbo5?si=6P7yBjK0TzSUSjg_bC2DKg&nd=1&dlsi=31c3da1d886643eb
Some great stuff in there about well, a lot of stuff
Jarvenite with a wonderful cross ice pass to Griffith who’s shot-pass is deflected in by Hamblin to cut the deficit to 2-1 early in the 2nd.
Josh Brown back in the lineup and Akey th healthy scratch (healthy as far as I know). Millman (although a leftie) playing over him.
MacKinnon 50
Blackwood pulled 3 times in his last 9 starts.
MacKinnon his 50, but Avs lose at home to the worst team in the league.
8 goals against from Vancouver? Ha!
You sure this is the game you wanna highlight on Lowetide?
Meh.
Shit happens.
Shitting the bed in April and May. Thats just what these avs do.
Judging by practice, Samanski is the odd-man out:
Per Tony B.
EDM lines & pairings — Wednesday’s practice:
• Hyman* is not on the ice.
Podkolzin – McDavid – Savoie
Dach* – RNH – Roslovic
Kapanen – Dickinson – Frederic
Jones – Henrique – Lazar
Samanski
Ekholm – Bouchard
Nurse – Murphy
Walman – Emberson
Stastney
——————-
They need to transition Jones to regular recall unless they send Samanski down (which they may).
It’s great to have options regarding who’s in the lineup however I wouldn’t have replaced Samanski
Knob confirms that Frederic will be in the lineup tomorrow.
Glad that he’s close to healthy. Probably wouldn’t mess with the lineup on a 4 game heater, except for injuries, though.
Interesting random side note..
Skinner has now played 23 games for edm and 23 for pit…
Numbers were actually better in edm. And both set of numbers are better than Jarry..
Im loving ingram. But really wish that trade hadnt happened. Ingram-skinner would feel better and we could still have a second round pick as a trade chip.
Anyhow. I think Skinner is not elite or anything. But he is capable as a 1b or backup and was cheeper…
Not to reharsh the past so much.
Can Ingram pop late? Like can he be a roloson-light?
Im so impressed with his calm presence in net.
I was wondering about Skinner. Looked it up on NaturalStatTrick last night. The numbers at NST:
At 5v5 he’s .912SV% w .565% GSAx in Pittsburg.
In Edmonton he was .892 SV% w 0.0% GSAx.
Also not needing to cry over spilled milk, but I share your preference. And, I too hope that what we’ve seen recently w Ingram only gets better (and that Jarry recovers confidence; in his 14 games w Pittsburg he was at .913 SV% w .308% GSA)
NST doesn’t publish GSAx directly.
At 5v5 in Pittsburg NST has Skinner at 41 GA, 54.47 xGA, which is 13.47 GSAx.
While in Edmonton he was 47 GA, 46.6 xGA, which is -0.38 GSAx.
Yes. 13 goals saved above expected over 23 games gets you a percentage.
That would be GSAx/GM. It’s not a percentage.
I pop or a revitalization?
Ingram did have a 0.907 for the Yotes in 50 games in the not to distant past.
I don’t like the Jarry trade as it stands but I think everyone involved needed a change – mentally, emotionally – from Skinner. Even if only to demonstrate that team play in front of the goaleur is pretty decisive.
I am loving Ingram’s play, and just how far he’s come. Hoping he is the Oiler’s candidate for the Masterton Trophy this season. He won it in 2024 but he deserves to be nominated again.
Agree it would have been nice to have seen Ingram / Skinner tandem for a bit before making the Jarry trade. Problem was, Ingram wasn’t exactly blowing the doors off in the AHL. And Jarry was looking good in Pittsburgh. Goalies are voodoo. I think Jarry will come around now that the Oilers are playing properly
I just uat dont like the way jarry plays… he always seems to be a bit chaotic throwing himself toward pucks. I know that is just the “eye test” but i would think players must feel more confident with a tender who is calm and confident looking? Its more predictable too for rebounds and second chances…
But i do hope he dials it in and maybe with less chaos in front of him he will look more calm. I will admit i watched very very little of Jarry before he was in oiler silks…
All will be forgiven if Jarry gets hot in the Playoffs. I’m glad Ingram has grabbed the reins while settling the mob down. Ingram is also taken the pressure off Jarry and is buying more time for his I suspect groin injury to heal.
After that great win last night (and the previous 3), I couldn’t get it out of my head . . . have I been completely wrong about Knobby, did he fool us all? The 1st 3/4 off the season he’s treated this team like a grade 10 biology experiment, scraping the petri-dish after every game and replacing the successful results with a new sample. I didn’t get it. Now, the call-ups are performing well and they’ve stayed up on the big team, the team has won 4 in a row while climbing in the standings. Huh. Go Knobby Go.
Haha he kind of does this every year. Messes around with the lines for the first 50 games and then locks in towards the end of the season and in playoffs. I guess it works when the Pacific division sucks… but I would love to know the thought process.
and I’m not in favour of ditching Knoblauch for Cassidy. Knoblauch does lots of things pretty well and gets more reasonable in playoffs I just think they would benefit from more experienced assistants.
He likes to have a look at different line combos to store in his memory banks for future referance. Plus it creates familiarity for the players with one another.
But at the expense of building chemistry amongst consistent lines. And winning games, which, most years, matters
the coaching improved (if it has) after Coffey returned. I doubt they were planning on losing Gully last summer and clearly there was an element he/Coffey brought to the staff and room that was missing
Since Coffey arrived and settled things down the D to my eye are collectively moving its feet more with crispier shorter passes.
But the previous years the team was winning. This season it’s hard to really make the argument that this is a wise way to coach a team, when the season would have been lost in any other division.
How much churn on this roster, to date?
What did GM SB say early season, we wouldn’t see this team until Feb-March?
The mystery to me is how much doubt there is in Oilerville that successful, winning coaches, GM, and players might know more about this team than we do.
SB said at the beginning of the year that he wanted to incorporate some youth and speed .That and along with some other new adds he said would take until March April to get things up and running in the direction they wanted. KK must have tried 500 deferent combinations trying to get the right mix but like they said here it is April and the pieces seem to be falling in place. Congrats to them for a job well done .
The pieces I like are the numerous bigger and faster 4th liners that we can interchange as we got forward. We also have a number of them as backups incase of injury ,, Im not sure this team will be pushed around like we were in last years play offs. I.e LA or VCR or Tampa
Nope, every move was reactionary trying to win the hockey game of the night. He is not a savant, just a coach trying to win hockey games.
I think my favourite part of PuckIQ (and, IMO, the most useful feature) is that the tables provide a nice visualization of how coaches deploy their players.
There appear to be increasingly few coaches that chase matchups. I wonder what the reasoning is to roll lines versus chasing matchups? Disruptive to the flow of the game? I am curious how this changes during the playoffs.
Vegas won the 2023 series against Edmonton mainly on the matchup of Eichel vs Bjugstad. I think Eichel had a 7-1 goals for-against edge in that series. Coach Woody tried to switch it up in the clinching Game 6 by putting Drai against Eichel but he generated 3 goals for and 1 against. Without Eichel’s production, I think Edmonton had a 7-5 edge in goals.
You line match if you know you can win a head to head matchup. You roll all lines if you want the entire team engaged and fresh and you trust every line to play responsibly.
In the regular season, the coaches won’t be as inclined to line match because it takes a lot of coordination and communication. In the playoffs, those few extra key goals for when you throw McDavid out against a tired 4th line; it can be the difference for many series.
That is the issue with it if it’s taken too far (disrupting flow).
Another issue, if it’s taken too far, can be getting your team to focus too much on the other teams game and not on focussing on your own strengths.
The Nurse-Murphy numbers are pretty interesting
last 6 games
42% Corsi
50% shots
50% goals
50% xGF
59% high danger chances
34% ozone starts
so they are blocking a ton of shots and not allowing high danger chances even though they are getting tough minutes
Murphy leads with 13 over that time
Darnell and Walman with 10 each
Also Darnell leads the team in hits with 19 over the last 6 games
THE DOC IS IN
By what metric are they playing “tough minutes”.
In the last four games Nurse and Murphy have been on for:
15 offensive faceoffs
30 neutral zone faceoffs
29 dzone faceoffs.
The faceoff rates, e.g., 34% ozone starts, are very deceptive. It also excludes on the fly starts.
More importantly, we don’t know if the dzone starts are deployment or earned. E.g., how many times did they ice the puck?
And before people start downvoting me, my post is not a criticism of Nurse and Murphy. It was a criticism of the way people interpret / use / understand the zone starts stat.
On NST they distinguish between offensive zone face offs and offensive zone starts. Starts are shifts that start with a ozone/dzone face off so not after an icing. They are pretty much the same (ozone starts are 24% for Nurse the last 6 games).
by puckIQ they are playing tough comp too. Nurse is 39% vs elites over that span vs Walman at 29.
Thanks for that clarification.
You bet. It’s a good question
NhL edge you can actually %zone time in each zone.
I find this handy to add context when looking at things
Walman with some wobble giveaways last night but he, along with Nurse, have both played their best hockey of the season over the last 5 games.
I’ve been saying for months that the key to this season was those two finding their games and they have.
Murphy acquired and Emberson back healthy have allowed the coaching staff to formulate three legit pairs with a role.
Depth is an issue with only Stastney and Regula in behind but the healthy 6 is legit.
He seems to be feeling tougher alongside Murphy
Dragging each other into the fight!
Today marks a year since Lowetide’s good friend Bruce Mccurdy passed. I often wonder when I read this blog what Bruce’s thoughts might be. I want to take a second to wish you peace Lowetide as you reflect on the beautiful life of your friend. I dont post often, but I read this blog every day. His insight is missed here, on his work on the cult of hockey and surely in the community of local astronomers
Hear, hear!
Thank you. I didn’t know the man, but I do miss Bruce’s hockey insights on CoH and on Lowetide. It’s good to remember him.
I never got to meet him in person, but having spoken many times here, and on Twitter, I deeply appreciated all the expertise Bruce showed in a variety of areas. Specifically I miss his encyclopedic knowledge of hockey history and the little “aha” moments he would bring to events. It is hard to believe it has been a year.
I didn’t know Bruce personally but I miss his comments here and I miss him being able to quickly and accurately answer questions, from memory, specific to any game in the history of the franchise.
Bruce had a steel trap memory nobody knew more about Oiler history past and present. It was a sad day one year ago.
This remains such a terrible tragedy – I still think back to the messages got from his son Kevin last year in crisis and feeling so helpless.
I remain in daily contact with Kevin – Bruce would be proud of Kevin’s place in the Oilers fan community!
Funny I was thinking about Bruce the other day. I never met him, wish I did. Seemed like a warm soul and wished for presence and observations. My thoughts are with him and his family. And definitely in the upper echelons of sports talk in Edmonton. We’re blessed this way in Edmonton. Great sports talk. John Short (rip), Lowetide and Bruce. Voices of reason, balance and memories like elephants. Gentleman through and through. Oldies like me will remember Tiger and Hall
And there are some young ones coming along too. Someone mentioned Tyler Yaremchuk the other day, he’s good. I like Gregor’s work too. I’m sure I’m leaving some out who are good too
Edit *wished for his presence and observations *….
Legend. One of my favourite follows om Twitter at the cult of hockey and here. Wish I would have had the chance to meet him
Hey red14, I gotta apologize as in my reply I went on about some others in the community. That distracted from your incredibly thoughtful post about Bruce and his passing and its impact on our gracious host. And thank you for the post. It reminds us not to forget about the special people who make our lives more rich. To be sure, Bruce met that bill. As I said, I thought very highly of Bruce despite never meeting him. And it’s my hope the focus remains there, and my distracting thoughts are ignored
I wouldn’t worry about it. I think the sentiment was clear from you as well. We all miss Mr. Mccurdy’s insights and are thinking of those who were close to him today.
LIke most of you, I have very fond memories of Bruce. He actually interviewed me about a Condors game I went to and we stayed in regular telephone contact after that. Quite a character, we all miss him and what insights he had.
I doubt Anaheim moves on after one poor season, but if McTavish needs a reset, that’s a gamble I would take with the cap going up.
The offence for him screamed topping out as a 2nd line centre. He hit that last year in the contract year and has struggled this year. I think it’s just a Swayman where the contract took too long to sign and the year got cooked.
If Carlsson wasn’t there I think he’d be available because GM’s get pissed at players for not reaching their outer marker even if they didn’t give them the depth. They have enough cover that he can return to form next year. Or last ear was his outer marker and he becomes a 3C at a hefty tag.
If he needs a reset, I’m not sure where we would fit him. Get good players but are you moving him to wing?
Where is he at for contract value? I thought he was cheap.
6x7M. For a 50 point rugged centre, good value. For this year, not so much.
There was plenty of speculation that Anaheim tried to move him at the deadline.
The Ducks have 2025 10th overall pick Roger McQueen on the way.
He’s a 6’5″ 200 right shot centre who played with Providence College this season.
When Mikael Granlund returned from injury, McTavish was relegated to 4LW although he has been granted some PP time.
Granlund has 2 more seasons on his contract so they can afford to wait on McQueen.
I think the Ducks might dangle McTavish and a pick to acquire a defenseman.
And right on cue, McQueen signs with the Ducks.
https://www.nhl.com/ducks/news/ducks-sign-mcqueen-to-ahl-amateur-tryout-agreement
He signed an ATO to play in the AHL.
He will sign an ELC for next season.
Apparently McQueen is now 6’6′ 203.
You know who was also about that size?
Joe Colborne.
Paul Bunyan was even bigger.
Sick burn.
Yesssssssssssss
Roger McQueen – 6’6″ 203
Leo Carlsson – 6’3″ 207
Bennett Sennecke – 6″3″ 205
Cutter Gauthier – 6’2″ 205
Nathan Gaucher – 6’3″ 227
Tim Washe – 6’3″ 216
Mason McTavish – 6’1″ 220
Jackson LaCombe – 6’2″ 207
Drew Helleson – 6’3″ 207
Ian Moore – 6’3″ 205
Pavel Mintyuokov – 6’1″ 207
All 25 and under…7 first round picks, 2 high second round picks, a third and an NCAA free agent signing.
Big boy hockey.
And one hell of a draft record and rebuild.
https://www.eliteprospects.com/league/nhl/teams-physical-stats
I know that they haven’t won anything yet, but I find it interesting that the Avalanche come in as the oldest team, along with being amongst the shortest and lightest. I guess we’ll see how the playoffs go.
HH has a thing for Big Boys. Last year he was swooning over players the Mammoth signed simply because they were large.
Where’s Brogan Rafferty?
Which one?
The serial killer?
Apparently currently playing for Växjö Lakers HC and waiting for his call to the Hall of Fame.
Looking ahead
if the Oiler bottom 6 is the below roster, how do you fill out the top 6.
3rd line – Hopkins-Samanski-Hyman
4th line – Jones-Dach-Freddie
Podkolzin/McDavid/Savoie
Howard/Draisaitl/Hyman
Nuge/Samanski/Frederic
Dach/Varjalamamama/Jones/Clatt/Poulin/Russian
Some nice youth scattered in there which is great. Hopefully we can sign a ‘Hughes’ or another college ready bottom 6 guy that can create some more competition.
That or Bowman and whoever targeted Podkolzin have another Podkolzin up their sleeve.
I think Dach is below each of Jones, Samanski, Lazar and Rico on the healthy depth chart.
Edit: Sorry, is this next season.
I think Jones will be back but, for all we know, he signs elsewhere, right?
Dach is taking Hymans spot during practice while unfortunately Samanski is the 13th forward.
Dach is seemingly higher on the list then what you’re claiming.
KK said in his interview he would be moving folks in and out of the line up so he can keep them all fresh ,He didn’t want some one sitting up stairs for two weeks and then jumping into a play off game cold.
I don’t think the Hyman placeholder in practice means anything – he isn’t even eligible to play tomorrow if Hyman isn’t.
With that said, due to CBA matter, Samanski MAY get sent down. Both he and Jones are on emergency recall and you can’t have an emergency recall on the roster with a healthy scratch around.
In order to keep Jones an emergency recall, Samanski would have to be sent down (or both Jones and Samanski transitioned to regular recall).
Dach could be on his way down when activated as well.
We’ll see.
For me, Hyman is top six all day long
Fun game to watch last night.
I think they’re still giving up too many grade As but good on Ingram for holding back the waters.
NST has the Kraken with 3 high danger shot attempts all game (2 at 5 on 5).
MoneyPuck had the Kraken with 1.4 expected goals.
They can still leak at times and Ingram was solid last night but I don’t think they gave up much last night, you?
Per Puckpedi, Oilers have signed William Nicholl to his ELC – will be interesting to watch him develop in Bako next year.
The official release.
Good on him for earning a contract as a 7th-round pick.
Just leaves Sundin and Häuser who need to sign before June 1 before their rights are relinquished.
I don’t believe Sundin’s rights expire if not signed.
I haven’t looked for a while but I believe, for those drafted out of Europe, its 4 years – could be wrong (and maybe this changed when they extended the CBA).
It’s four years from their draft-eligible date, not from when they were actually drafted.
Sundin was taken in 2024 as a double-overager — he was born in August 2004 — so was first eligible in 2022.
Fair enough – thank you.
London is on the brink of elimination – maybe see an ATO to get him to Bako for the rest of the season. Whether he plays or not is another question.
0.8PPG in the OHL in draft+2?
Doesn’t exactly scream “future NHLer,” does it? Is he a bruiser or a faceoff master or a future coach or the next Lennart Petrell of penalty killing?
He joined the team half way through after having major shoulder surgery.
I give him a bit of a break on running in place upon return.
Bruce Curlock loves Nicholl and that is meaningful for me.
Decent on FO’s, 52.6% the past two seasons.
Not a volume shooter but his SH% is 17.2 over that same span.
Does kill penalties, though I dunno whether he’s first over the boards in that state.
He’s a terrific skater
But yes, his offence doesn’t seem to be there at this time
A good day for me as a Canadian sports fan. Blue Jays came back to put the Rockies down after a lopsided loss. Habs continued to school the bad-mannered Florida gangs, this time beating TBL on the ice with goals AND “physicality.” Oilers practiced playing a 200-foot game for most of 60 minutes, helping their goalie get a much-deserved shutout.
Nice touch: both Capt’s, Suzuki and McD, did the right thing by not passing on their ENGs. WTFG!
I can see the Habs in the SCF this year. The way the Oilers are rounding into form, I can see them there too.
all those years ago in the mid-late 80’s, the matchup that should have happened but never did. I’d be down for this
Yeah, strange that we never got that iconic matchup.
You know what else we never got? Oilers vs Mario in the finals. I thought it was about to happen in 1991…and then somehow we lost to the Minnesota North Stars in the Western final.
That early 80s playoff matchup was something else though.
Our kids against their legends
It was epic
Gretzky with 1 million points
Messier staring down the much feared Robinson.
Andy Moog playing great
The Habs were third in the league. We were 14th in the league. (it was the old playoff seeding system one verse 16 down to eight verses nine.)
it was the youngster’s second season in the NHL
we swept the legends.
shock and awe
The kids beat them 6-3 and 3-1 in Montreal
Then finish the sweep in Edmonton 6 to 2
Gretzky had 11 points in three games lol
He was 20 years old
As were Kurri, Anderson and Messier
Paul coffey was 19
Andy Moog was only 20
oh man it was incredible
Moog had a .938 save %
Callighen
Lariviere
Hagman
Lumley
Siltanen
Lowe
Fogolin
Hicks
Hunter
Semenko
Unger
and…Stan Weir
ahhhh
A good memory for Oilers fans.
Lucky for me, I’d hung up my Habs fandom after the ‘79 Cup (adulting left no room for watching hours of TV; now I’m catching up, having mostly done my adulting). That spared me from the agony of watching my heroes being beaten by near-teenagers. No wonder my father was so bitter…
Oh yeah it was a crisis in Montreal.
My uncle had season tickets at that time. My brother who was living with me fell and hit his head on the ice at a game and went into convulsions. Out of sympathy, my uncle took my brother that game in Edmonton. I’m still jeaulous.
Another very solid performance.
Ingram asked about his role in locking in down last night: “Did I really do anything?”.
Yes, yes you did.
I still play Jarry on Thursday – Ingram can’t play every night (well, shouldn’t).
Ingram looked in the zone last night, nice little puck flip out to the faceoff dot after a glove save. Great positioning all night and some big stops. He forces the shooter to make a great shot with that positioning.
Nice win. Masterclass (mostly) for suppression. Have to watch the line of going into a shell toooo long in games esp against better teams, it will bite them.
They also fought off the game management officiating (awful).
A pp goal and that game was finished a lot earlier. PP is a bit in a down mode, it will come around.
How did Savoie not score, he was everywhere.
Go OIL!
He’s here!
He’s there!
He’s every-fookin’-where!
Matt Savoie!
Matt Savoie!
On season 3, great show
Yeah, he’s looking confident
A week ago it required a catastrophic plunge by the Ducks.
A few days after the it required some real wobble by the Ducks.
Now its “in play”.
I love the progression.
Oilers own the tiebreaker.
We heard rumblings of Nurse at the deadline but was a bit of a letdown. Frank never gives up the actual details on his show but something to watch for this summer.
They’re basically telling Nurse to shape up or ship out. If he wants to stay in Edmonton his performance during the playoffs needs to be exceptional.
Of course, the organization cannot ship Nurse out with his agreement and they aren’t going to do things like tell him he’s a healthy scratch until he consents.
The threat might be enough to motivate Nurse .
Absolutely, he better get in line or they’ll desert him in the offseason.
Pagnotta has been on Nurse being moved in the summer (potentially) for a while now.
The link has some good info. Clears things up. Frank doesn’t chop it up like any other guy.
The real conundrum for one on this blog. If Anaheim wins, Michael Misa’s team falls further behind. If the SJMM’s win, the Oil are 2 points back of the division.
Oh the humanity.
We care only for what benefits the Oilers. Go San Jose go! (regulation win is the only acceptable outcome)
The Sharks are of no concerns to me vis-a-vis the Oilers right now – in the aim of winning the division (not that I think it really matters much, it would be nice), I look forward to Sharks win.
You are not the droid I’m looking for.
Frederic speculated to be back for Thursday.
Can’t take Max Jones out right now (kudos to Jones for making it so).
I wouldn’t take Samanski out.
I like Lazar but I think its him that comes out for Frederic.
I know many will scream for Rico, and I get that, but I don’t see coach doing it and he’s replaced Janmark as the guy that is keeping a lineup spot based on PK mostly.
I think Samamski may have been shifted to 4C for last game on the premise that Lazar will be coming out for Frederic.
Oilers usually win with Lazar in the line up. Jones & Frederic make fine bookends on the fourth line. Samanski can play LW with Dickinson and Kapanen RW. Either of Henrique or Lazar in at 4c is a nice problem to deal with.
I don’t see them taking Rico out at this point.
It’s looking like Samanski draws the short straw.
Kapanen-Dickinson-Frederic
Jones-Henrique-Lazar
Vets prevail.
Other factors involved, but:
PK w/out Henrique Jan 7-Mar 11: ranked 29th, 71.9%
PK w Henrique Mar 12-31: ranked 10th, 80.8%
as per nhl.com
No doubt that Henrique’s primary value right now is on the PK.
I just liked the way they won. Keep it up. Maybe KK got the memo. Ingram is an excellent story and is modelling for others who have had similar challenges. I smile, good on you as I personally know it’s tough. Enjoying eating my previous doubts about the team cooked well done with a glass of Chianti, of coarse
Yea solid win. Be nice to see the PP get back to contributing. Thankfully the PK has been running hot.
Indeed…special teams, critical. I wonder, don’t you think that goal suppression on the PK is nice and a momentum builder in itself? And aren’t the Oilers blessed, as I am sensing 29 will return to bolster the PP come the playoffs.
On that note, does anyone have views as to when he’ll be back….I’ve kinda been left with he impression he will be able to play in round 1….but who knows
There are rumblings that Drai may be ready to play prior to the end of the regular season – nothing official of course.
Thanks for this OP. If it plays out that way, it would be nice for 29 to get some rust off. Besides we all know he is a warrior and those kinds crave the game
I only saw the final 8 or so minutes of the third period. They looked like they were practising their defensive zone coverage, composed as ever coasting their way to victory. Just like a Stanley cup contender should do against a team like the Mariners or I mean Kraken.
Ho hum moments of system practice at the ball park….oh the arena. Good thing for Seattle the Mariners are actually very good.
Darnell Nurse – a great game last night.
Rolling!
Better keep it up or you’re off to some place like Florida.
If he can bring this game into the playoffs Music!
One thing that’s been drastically improved is the breakouts. There are much less of the “hope and a prayer” 100 foot outlet passes to the forward at the opposing blue line.
Over the last few games there is much better puck support. All those little 6 foot bump passes or area passes between the D and the forwards as we exit the zone as 3 man groups made me so less stressed.
When we do execute the long outlets, I think the D have been instructed to only go for it when the other team is changing or there’s a very low chance of the turnover at the blue line. It’s noticeably helped decrease the odd man rushes against and the icings.
I’m not sure the long outlets were by design; I’d posit that the forwards had been cheating for offence all season long, and that the D had no other choice but to send a “hope and a prayer” outlet pass up the ice.
The commitment to playing a 200 ft game from the forward group has been way better since Leon went down; the forwards aren’t flying the zone as much; as a result, there is better puck support and the breakouts look more organized.
I know the outlets were by design because there was always an Oilers winger going to the faceoff dot at the opposing blue line every time our D gained control of the puck.
The intent was that the D fired it up and the forward either tipped it into the zone or bumped it back to a trailing player who was coming thru the neutral zone with speed. This was something they never did last year and it was something they only consistently started doing since the start of this year.
When it worked, we got into the opposing zone with our players attacking with pace. It also pushed back the opposing D so they couldn’t pinch or hold the blue line and keep their cycle going. By stretching the gap between the forwards and the defence, we were trying to make more space in the neutral zone for our skill players to execute their high skill plays.
The issue is that it wasn’t working very well with lots of icings, lots of intercepted passes in the neutral zone and lots of odd man rushes against with all our forwards racing up the ice in the wrong direction. Only Bouchard had the passing chops to consistently hit those long passes tape to tape. Nurse, Walman and Emberson all noticeably struggled trying to make those plays.
The change is noticeable if you just look at Hyman’s and Podkolzin’s play lately. Early in the season, they were always zooming out to the opposing blue. Now, they’re swinging through the middle ice to provide and outlet for the D to hit with short passes
Coffey.
I will agree it is clear they’ve taken more ownership defensively. The last team they played with a suffocating forecheck was the Florida Panthers and they got cooked.
Granted, not many teams can do what they do, but I’d tap the breaks on them having figured it out. Florida is down bad this year and still gave them fits. Until they can win against that style I won’t make sweeping statements about their outlets.
I was going to say the same
Fischer has signed.
Not cool.
got me excited they had signed Paul Fischer (who is going back for his senior year).
Jeff Marek
@JeffMarek
Based on the ‘data centric’ criteria Keith Pelley laid out for next Leafs GM the candidates are (all working at AGM level) – Tim Barnes (WSH), Tyler Dellow (CAR), Alexandra Mandrycky (SEA), Sunny Mehta (FLA), Darryl Metcalf (TOR).
Will the Leafs go this direction?
Wut
Good luck with that. As Lansky said to LT Pelley isn’t a hockey guy, obviously
Peter Chiarelli spoke at the Sloan Sports Analytics conference, is a Harvard educated lawyer and has a ring. And they want to hire bloggers instead? Will be another 60 years for a cup in TO
Seems to have worked out okay in Colorado and Carolina.
To the tune of 0 cups. Sakic, if you didn’t know, was not a blogger. Neither was Mcfarland who has been in hockey ops for over 25 years.
Both Sakic and McFarlane rely heavily on Dawson Spriggins for talent evaluation.
You responded to “And they want to hire bloggers instead?”
“Seems to have worked out okay in Colorado and Carolina.”
I pointed out that neither Joe Sakic nor Mcfarland are bloggers.
Thank you for your attention to this matter, i know reading your own words is hard..
I can relate! Reading his words is hard for us too!
But, why do we care about the leafs?
Because DSF thinks this is a general NHL blog, and that the people he repeatedly annoys with inane comments are his buddies
Lol – ChiaPet will totally be the Leaf’s next hire. There was so much smoke been blown up the butts of Leafs Nation by Pelley yesterday. Their ownership will want a stooge that they can lay all the blame on when it all goes south in the next 2-3 years and Austin Matthews leaves to join Connor McDavid on the Oilers.
Good point. I actually think Chiarelli as PoHO and Mehta or Dellow as GM would make a great sitcom
The leafs wish they can play by themselves in a make believe Dr. Seuss. Such a narcissistic little outfit. I know some good and decent Leaf fans, and feel their pain. The others….well they’re just part of the Dr. Seuss set
They want control from the upper deck. This is why so many unqualified people are put in positions nowadays.They reap the cash and do as they’re told.
Love to see Peter Chiarelli in Toronto as GM of the Leafs to clean up after Brad Treliving. Happy to report my daughters have seen the light and have become Oiler fans after being staunch Leaf fans.
We can only hope that the Leafs sign Chiarelli
If they are looking for a younger, analytics focused GM, they should try to pry that Dubas fellow out of Pittsburgh.
What a great comment
Country roads take me home to a place I beloooooooooooooooong
My Huddy jersey is beginning to grow eyebrows.
Mounting moma
Heard that girl has a squeeze box too . . . . .
Good golly I do not like Knoblauch’s system. It makes playing look so difficult, a team with these players should have much more flow and consistency of attack, and less coverage breakdowns
It’s weird that they play so much to the sides and leave the middle ice often with no Oilers players there, in the D zone and O zone. Guys between the D and goalie a lot, or in the circles not checked
The D are mostly vets, four have played on other teams. Other teams that are any good don’t play like this. The players often get blamed for it often, every player make some mistakes, but I think it’s mostly what they are being asked to do
It reminds me of Maurice saying after they played them he didn’t think he’d ever seen as the panthers coach guys being left open around their net 3 times in a game or something. I wish the Oilers could be tight like that around the scoring area
They have taken away the middle of the ice and are keeping shots to the outside. They also have identified that they’re a possession team and look to hold on to the puck in all three zones. Which is basically what Knoblauch has been preaching all season. The players have turned up their hearing aides for this vital time of season.
I believe it’s the third season. The team should have it memorized by now. I believe it’s helps the team when the Capt pays attention, he seems to be doing, ever since he realized he’s on a well-coached team.
ps. I’ve been playing the broken record of “waiting for McD’s Yzerman moment.” Maybe all that was needed was that tweak to the hearing aides?
They do, but they have consistent moments where they are not in position to defend, or attack effectively. The problem with it is that it relies on luck – nothing unexpected happens
The panthers hammered them last finals jumping on that. Lose a battle, let a guy sneak out of coverage, get behind them, a bad bounce, in the net. The Krak were not a solid test, they are anemic and not physical
Hold up. Are we getting Kacey Musgraves references now? If so, I am here for it!
Yes! Great album.
I know the fancies don’t look optimal but Nuge’s line is currently outscoring their underlying numbers while playing the opposing team’s second line competition.
The reason I keep advocating for keeping Nuge-Roslovic-Hyman together even after Drai comes back to centre the Oilers’ second line is they’ll slide from 2nd to 3rd line competition, still outscore and improve their analytics.
The Kraken are an average team with mostly average players. It’s concerning to me that the top 6 and 2 D pairs got outshot and expected was weak for a lot of them. Score effects ok, but the Oilers should roll a team like that especially given they were 3-5-2 going in to the game
Dallas lost to a Bruins team fighting for the playoffs.
Lightning lost to the Habs.
Top teams lose to inferior teams consistently in this league.
I’m going to stop short of critiquing a 3-0 win (and full value for the multi goal win) and a line getting outshot and out expected goaled.
I’m not. The Bruins and Habs are better teams than the Krak. You might want to look at things as one game, I usually am looking bigger picture. They regularly have weak underlying numbers and which is concerning for playoffs, and below what a person would expect from such a talented veteran team. It’s all about the Cup, as long as they have enough team health, which of course would mitigate things. Right now they do
— cheering for oilers reminds me of the late great orator Jesse Jackson (highly recommend listening to his speeches and convention when he was running)
— Thunderously: “we must never surrender” & “Keep hope alive”
Prospectess!
Just like last night, the full CHL contingent is on display. Unlike last night, not all are assured of future play this season at the junior level.
Nicholl’s Knights (who lost Games 2 and 3 in OT) and Lafreniere’s Blazers (who are being outclassed by the Memorial Cup hosts Kelowna) are in 3-0 holes. They will have to dig in, develop a shooting mentality, roll all four lines, get pucks in deep, play for each other, and other such cliches if their teams wish to play beyond today.
At the other end is Lewandowski and the Blades, owner of a
lonely heart2-1 series lead on the Kings of Oil with Game 4 in the Bridge City. Like he did in the regular season, Lewandowski leads the Blades in playoff scoring with 2 + 3. He has already bettered last playoff’s numbers (4 GP, 1-1-2).London (Nicholl) @ 5 p.m.
Saskatoon (Lewandowski) @ 7 p.m.
Kamloops (Lafreniere) @ 8 p.m.
All times, at all times, are Clandonald time.
Yes!
Wll there be clavicles involved?
I used to play the clavicle in a Jazz band…
Very glad for the win, and hopefully the Celebrinis can do us the favour the bass ackward Flames couldn’t. I call them that for playing like merd all season, only to find some wins exactly when they don’t want them. No, I do not feel sorry for them
With a win tonight, the Celebrinis would move into a playoff spot depending on the outcome of the Kings game.
Isn’t that the point?
It doesn’t really matter who gets the second wild card spot – whoever it is will be roadkill for the Avs.
I expect so but if Celebrini can pull if off, he deserves the Hart Trophy.
Unless its the Jets
Current wild card projections:
Athletic
UTA – 92.3
LAK – 88.1
SJS – 85.9
WIN- 85.6
NSH – 84.2
Moneypuck
UTA – 91.6
LAK – 86.8
SJS – 85.8
NSH – 85.3
WIN- 84.8
Probably, but don’t forget what happened to TB in 2019. They won the President’s trophy by 21 points, faced Columbus in the first round (finished 30 points back) and got blown away by the (ahem) BJ’s in 4 straight. It was such a mismatch that I called TB to win in 3 LOL. You just never know.
No, the point of that franchise is to do the Oilers’ bidding and a favour
Ducks will lose a few in a row after the Leafs took some bark off their hides. What’s the status on Cutter-Gudas. I wonder if Leo ankle swelled up after he took his boot off.